


Tadaima

by RukiaG



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Comfort, Family Feels, Happy Birthday Shiro (Voltron), Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) Has a Clone, Shiro Birthday Week 2018, Shiro's mom gets a few surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 10:25:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13785513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RukiaG/pseuds/RukiaG
Summary: Naoko Shirogane thought she lost her son. She didn't expect he'd come back. She expected even less that he wouldn't be alone.





	Tadaima

**Author's Note:**

> For Shiro’s birthday week day 2, Lost/Found! (A day late though, ugh). With his mom, his clone, and a slight Shallura (mostly for comedy purposes).

The sweet smell of incense filled the afternoon air as Naoko Shirogane sat in front of the small shrine, dark eyes fixed on one picture. It wasn’t the only one in the shrine; one was the photograph of a middle-aged man in uniform, another one showed and old man with a kind smile and an old woman with grey eyes, both dressed in traditional clothes.

But the picture that had all her attention was the one of a young man, so handsome in his spotless new uniform. Not that it was a surprise, her little boy always looked good, just like his father.

It had been three years since the Garrison informed her that her son died, far away, at the edge of the solar system. Her little boy, whose eyes were so bright and full of life in her memories, lost forever among the stars he had longed to reach.

A soft knock on the front door brought her back to reality. Naoko didn’t move, startled at the sound. She hadn’t been expecting any visitors.

There was another knock and Naoko stood up, walking without hurry. Probably someone got the wrong house, she thought, and she opened the door.

Here, right in front of Naoko, her son smiled at her.

“ _Kaa-san_ , I’m home.”

Naoko rested a hand on her chest. How could it be? Was she dreaming? Did her son really come back from the dead?

“Takashi…”

She reached out, feeling the warm flesh of his cheek under her fingers. He looked different, with a scar over the bridge of his nose and a lock of hair turned white as snow, but it was him, and he was real. Her little boy was back.

Naoko pulled him in a hug, unable to hold back her tears. Takashi wrapped his arms around her, and Naoko could feel the quiet sobs spilling out of his chest.

Once their tears subsided, Naoko pulled back slightly so she could take a good look at her son. He looked pale and tired, and Naoko noticed that his right arm didn’t feel like flesh. She looked down and saw the metal hand peeking out of his sleeve. She looked back into his eyes.

“Takashi, my dear, what happened to you? I was told you died! Where have you been?”

Her son looked down, holding her hands in his.

“This may be hard to believe, but I was abducted by aliens for a year, and then I joined a team to fight an intergalactic evil empire and… well, it’s a long story.”

“Abducted by aliens? Really?” Takashi rubbed the back of his head. He looked exactly like that time when he was seven and he was about to tell her he dropped her new phone in the toilet.

“I’ll tell you everything, I promise. But first, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

Takashi looked over his shoulder and waved at someone out of Naoko’s sight. A man approached them, and she gasped. That man looked exactly like her son, even with a matching scar and white lock of hair, even if his hairdo and clothes were different.

“ _Kaa-san_ , this is Ryou. He’s… Well, he’s my clone, but he’s been more like a twin brother since we met.”

The man glanced at her for a second, quickly averting his eyes to the ground, shoulders hunched. It was exactly what Takashi used to do when he thought he was being disappointing, and Naoko felt new tears choking her throat. She cupped the man’s cheeks and made him look at her. His eyes were so familiar, so full of anxiety and fear, like a child expecting to be scolded for something beyond his control.

“Ryou…” Naoko muttered, the name heavy on her tongue. “Like your grandfather?”

Takashi nodded.

“It seemed fitting.”

Naoko smiled. Her father had helped her beyond measure, taking care of Takashi while Naoko was at work after her husband died.

“Welcome home, Ryou.”

A tear slipped down his cheek.

“Thank you. I didn’t know… I thought you…”

Naoko silenced him with a finger over his lips.

“There’s no need to worry. If Takashi says you’re like a brother to him, then that means you’re like my son too.”

She hugged him, and Ryou rested his head on her shoulder, his body shaking in sheer relief.

“Thank you, _kaa-san_.”

Naoko’s heart was filled with warmth. She couldn’t believe how lucky she had been, to not only get her son back but also a second one! Surely nothing else could make her happier. She rubbed her eyes and looked at both.

“Come in. You have to tell me everything that happened to you.”

“Actually…” Takashi looked at her sheepishly. “There’s someone else I want you to meet.”

Naoko arched her eyebrows. Did he have another clone? Who else would her son want to introduce her to? Takashi waved again, and a third person joined them. To Naoko’s surprise, this one was a young woman. Naoko immediately noticed her pointed ears and the weird marks under her eyes. She had the feeling those weren’t make-up.

“ _Kaa-san_ , this is Allura. She is… well…” Takashi blushed. “We’re together.”

Naoko’s jaw dropped. Now _that_ was unexpected. The girl, Allura, bowed slightly.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Shirogane. I’m Princess Allura of planet Altea. Shiro told me a lot about you, I’m glad we finally meet.”

“Nice to meet you too… uh… Princess Allura.” Naoko hesitated. She had no idea how to address an alien princess. She also wondered how an alien could speak perfect Japanese, but now there were more important matters to discuss. She turned to her son.

“So, you got yourself a girlfriend? You spent all your adolescence saying you weren’t interested in romance, and now you’re telling me you found yourself a girlfriend in space? An alien princess girlfriend?”

“Uh… Yes?”

Naoko shook her head. This son of hers…

“Well, now I’m even more interested in listening to the whole story, unless you have more surprises… Wait.” A sudden thought slipped into her mind. She turned to Allura. “Are you pregnant?”

“What?” Allura blinked in disbelief. Takashi turned a deep crimson, Ryou snickered. “No, I’m not pregnant!”

“Thank goodness.” Naoko sighed, a hand on her chest. Then she quickly added. “It’s not that I don’t want grandchildren, I do, of course, it’s just that I already had enough surprises for a whole year. Well, if there aren’t any more people you want to introduce to me, Takashi, you should come in. I’ll make tea and then you can tell me all about your space adventures.”

They took off their shoes, and as Naoko was distracted handing Allura a pair of slippers, and the princess praised the beauty of her home, Ryou leant close to Takashi’s ear.

“Should we tell her about Sven?”

“Better later.”

**Author's Note:**

> PS: Eventually, Naoko meets Sven. She adopts him right away (and she thinks his accent is lovely).


End file.
